Quotes & Notes | Houston Dynamo 1, Portland Timbers 1 - Apr. 27, 2014

Timbers head coach Caleb PorterGeneral thoughts on strong first half, overall game:
“The first half was strong overall, came out with energy and confidence. We knew they would be a bit wounded, we knew they would come out flying. They typically want to play a very fast-paced, up-tempo game. We didn’t allow them to do that the entire game. That’s a real positive, and to come from behind and get the goal is a huge positive. You see teams around the league, they get down a goal on the road in these type of situations, and they unravel, 3-0, 4-0, even 5-0 sometimes. You saw in this group that they aren’t going to quit. We’re not happy with a draw, but we can build on this result. You saw today that we’re a team that’s going to push the game, home or away. That’s going to be an advantage of our team as it gets hotter and hotter in the summer months. The last two road games we’ve put in a very good performance overall, and we’ve defended extremely well. Gastón Fernández showing a bit of quality in that moment of scoring that goal is a big positive for us. The one piece we need to continue to do better is in the final third. For me, I would have liked to see a bit more aggressiveness at times. As much as we had the ball we have to turn that possession into penetration. For me, it’s about individuals taking responsibility at times to step up and shoot, and drive. We’re getting closer. I think it’s the final piece that we have to get right on this team, because mentally you can see we’re a very tough team, we’re in every game. Organizationally we’re there, possession-wise we’re there. We had almost 500 passes today, and 58 percent possession on the road. I don’t think that happens very often honestly. I would like to see a goal at the end to win the game, and that’s the piece I want to get right.”

On being more selfish in the final third:
“Yeah, I think we need a little bit of that. We create good chances on team play and combination play, but we need guys to be a little bit more selfish for the team. Just like Gastón in that moment, he got the ball in the box, you could tell he was ready for that moment, and he jumped the defender, and put it in the upper corner. We need that ruthlessness in our team. You can see we play positive soccer, we’re organized, we’re right there in every game. Our locker room’s extremely tight, if it wasn’t we would’ve unraveled after that first goal and lost that game. Our chemistry is great, but we need to create more goals and score more goals if we want to win games.”

Drawing positives from the result:
“I think it’s good when you get through a game like that, they’re at home, and they feel pressure to win, and they score the first goal, but you come back to tie it. We had been conceding late, but we didn’t today. It’s a real positive that the defenders were making plays late in the game, when a lot of times you get nervous in those moments. They looked composed in the latter stages today, and in some games this year we didn’t look completely composed. I’m just disappointed that we don’t find a notch more to win the game. That’s the final piece we have to dig into.”

Timbers defender Michael HarringtonOn the result:
“I thought we started well today, even though we gave up the first goal I thought we really had them on their heels. I thought we had some chances early, and I think their goal came on a counter. I felt like we had them on their half of the field, which is what we wanted to do. We wanted to possess the ball, and we did a good job of that tonight. Positive result, and very positive we were able to come back from the deficit on the road. That showed a lot of character in that aspect.”

On earning a road point:
“Getting a point on the road isn’t a bad result, but we want to win every game we play. We came here today to win, and I think you can see that in the way we started the game, and getting them back in their end of the field.”

Timbers midfielder Will JohnsonBuilding on the performance against Houston:
“We have to find a way to turn these performances that are solid, good defensive road performances into wins. On one hand, we made plays defensively, and we feel good coming from behind to get a point on the road. We hadn’t been able to do that in the first three road games of the year. From that point of view it’s positive, but when you squander leads at home you have to turn these games into wins.”

On moving forward with a stretch of home games coming up:
“You have to win your home games, you have to perform well. Defensively, we have to build on what we’ve done in the last two weeks. We have to finish a few more chances. We know we’re good enough, we know we’re capable, but it’s time to start [picking up three points].”

Houston Dynamo Quotes

Dynamo head coach Dominic KinnearThoughts on the match:
“It was a tough afternoon, really hot, really humid but the guys really worked hard by creating some good chances. They were a little lucky on their goal, a little bit of a deflection fell in their favor, and it was a game of possession. I thought we had some very good chances and some good saves but unfortunately we didn’t come out with the three points but the effort was still wonderful, we defended very intelligently and it was good for us.”

On Brad Davis’ impact:
“He’s a good player, during the run of play he wants the ball, he makes the right passes, obviously his cross to Will [Bruin] was very well taken. So he was good, it’s an easy question to answer. All of a sudden we’re a better team when he’s available for us.”

Houston Dynamo forward Will BruinThoughts on the match:
“I thought we rebounded well after the New York game, I think we played some very sound and compact defense as a team and sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way, but overall I think it was a pretty good performance.”

On his goal and snapping the team’s scoring drought:
“It’s always good when you can score, coming off two games where we didn’t score which weren’t about a lack of chances. We’re getting our chances; it was good to see it go in this time. Obviously, we want three points but I think we played really well given the circumstance and I think it’s something that can help us get the ball rolling and get things going the right way all while getting the guys’ confidence back. So, once we recover and get ready we’ll be ready for the weekend.”

Houston Dynamo midfielder Andrew DriverThoughts on the match:
“I think we showed a lot more today, I think we were the team that was pushing towards the end to get a win and obviously we’re disappointed with the draw but I think there were a lot more positives there.”

On how the conditions come into play:
Obviously, we’re more used to it, but the heat hasn’t been here all year this year unlike last year. But I think we did fairly well, we just need to take those chances, get a little bit of luck and we’ll turn that point into three points.

Notes:

Sunday’s match was the only regular-season meeting with Houston in 2014. With the draw, the Timbers extended their unbeaten streak against the Dynamo to three straight games (1-0-2), dating back to the 2012 season.

With the draw, the Timbers remain one of only three teams (Colorado, Toronto FC) that have not lost a match at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

The Timbers held 58.3 percent of possession against Houston, the second-highest percentage of possession the team has held in a single game this season.

The Timbers attempted 491 passes against the Dynamo, the most by the club in a single game this season. The club’s 433 successful passes on Sunday marked the most by Portland in a single game in 2014.

The club’s passing accuracy against Houston was above 85 percent. At 88.2 percent, Sunday’s passing accuracy was the best in a game for the Timbers in 2014.

In Houston’s half of the field, the Timbers registered a passing accuracy of 82.23 percent, the best in a game in the opponent’s half for Portland in 2014.

All three of forward Gastón Fernández’s goals this season have been game-tying goals.

Midfielder/forward Darlington Nagbe made his 56th consecutive league start for the Timbers dating back to the 2012 season. Nagbe has appeared in 75 of the team’s 76 games since the start of the 2012 season.